DSF's actors add the appropriate "flair" to the macabre tales by Shakespeare & Poe. |
As fall
fast approaches, the nights grow colder, and with it we enter the Halloween
season. Traditionally, Halloween means ghosts and ghouls, masks and candy, or
hayrides. But if you're looking to experience an intimate evening in the dark
side of theatre, the Delaware Shakespeare Festival (DSF) has all the mirth and
matter you'll need this season. Ghosts, spirits, witches and haunting stories
are included, in this mash-up of William Shakespeare plays and poems and short
stories of Edgar Allen Poe. This format uniquely blends the two together in one
fascinating macabre journey, as narrated by DSF veterans Caroline Crocker (A
Midsummer Night's Dream and The Two Gentleman of Verona), Adam
Darrow (The Two Gentleman of Verona), James Kassees (A Midsummer
Night's Dream and The Two Gentleman of Verona), and a newcomer to
DSF, Clare O'Malley.
After its
debut hit in 2012, The Shakespeare/Poe - A Night of Readings from The Dark Side returns, traveling to the gothic halls of Rockwood Mansion, the galleries of the Newark Arts Alliance and the grandeur of the
Read House & Gardens in Old New Castle. As DSF Producing
Artistic Director David Stradley said, "Our summer Festival audiences come
from all over the area; so this year, we decided to share this fun
evening in venues throughout New Castle County. I think each will
bring its own interesting energy to the night."
I
couldn't agree with him more, having thoroughly enjoyed the 30-seat, sold-out
performance Saturday night at the Read House.
The evening of readings runs just over an hour, which made for a excellent late
dinner and conversation to follow.
The readings are compiled and directed by Stradley, who does a masterful job weaving the works into a continuous piece. The evening ebbs and flows, from dramatic delivery by James Kassess in The Fall of the House of
Usher (Poe) to the "excited sensations" narrated by Clare
O'Malley in The Masque of the Red Death (Poe). Not to be
outdone by the dark short stories and poems of Poe, Adam Darrow and Caroline
Crocker bring to life the juxtaposition of Poe's The Masque of the Red
Death in an excerpt of Macbeth (Shakespeare), Act 3, Scene 4,
where the tortured Macbeth is visited by the ghost of Banquo.
I appreciated the narrative notes and short quips added by the
cast to lighten the mood and provide background. Although the
evening is rooted in macabre storytelling — such as an excerpt from
Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, or Poe's The Raven —
it provides more humorous moments, such as the Hamlet/Raven Mash-up read by the
Ensemble. The audience gave a good chuckle to fill out the room as the evening
ended with Caroline Crocker's narration of the Caliban Monologue – Act 3,
Scene 2, from The Tempest (Shakespeare).
"Be
not afeard. The isle is full of noises,
Sounds
and sweet aires that give delight and hurt not."
If
you're looking to enlighten and indulge your senses, this short, intimate
evening by the Delaware Shakespeare Festival is not to be missed! ONLY at www.delshakes.org.
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